Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes, depending on the particular manner of practice, the language, culture and customs of the nation in its primal sense of those who were born within its culture; this form of nationalism arose in reaction to dynastic or imperial hegemony, which assessed the legitimacy of the state from the top down, emanating from a monarch or other authority, which justified its existence. Such downward-radiating power might derive from a god or gods. Among the key themes of Romanticism, its most enduring legacy, the cultural assertions of romantic nationalism have been central in post-Enlightenment art and political philosophy. From its earliest stirrings, with their focus on the development of national languages and folklore, the spiritual value of local customs and traditions, to the movements that would redraw the map of Europe and lead to calls for self-determination of nationalities, nationalism was one of the key issues in Romanticism, determining its roles and meanings.
In Europe, the watershed year for romantic nationalism was 1848, when a revolutionary wave spread across the continent. While the revolutions fell to reactionary forces and the old order was re-established, the many revolutions would mark the first step towards liberalization and the formation of modern nation states across much of Europe; the ideas of Rousseau and of Johann Gottfried von Herder inspired much early Romantic nationalism in Europe. Herder argued nationality was the product of climate, geography'but more languages and characters,' rather than genetics. From its beginnings in the late 18th century, romantic nationalism has relied upon the existence of a historical ethnic culture which meets the romantic ideal; the Brothers Grimm, inspired by Herder's writings, put together an idealized collection of tales, which they labeled as authentically German. The concept of an inherited cultural patrimony from a common origin became central to a divisive question within romantic nationalism: is a nation unified because it comes from the same genetic source, because of race, or is the participation in the organic nature of the "folk" culture self-fulfilling?
Romantic nationalism formed a key strand in the philosophy of Hegel, who argued that there was a "spirit of the age" or zeitgeist that inhabited a particular people at a particular time, that, when that people became the active determiner of history, it was because their cultural and political moment had come. Because of the Germans' role in the Protestant Reformation, Hegel argued that his historical moment had seen the Zeitgeist settle on the German-speaking peoples. In continental Europe, Romantics had embraced the French Revolution in its beginnings found themselves fighting the counter-Revolution in the trans-national Imperial system of Napoleon; the sense of self-determination and national consciousness that had enabled revolutionary forces to defeat aristocratic regimes in battle became rallying points for resistance against the French Empire. In Prussia, the development of spiritual renewal as a means to engage in the struggle against Napoleon was argued by, among others, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, a disciple of Kant.
The word Volkstum, or "folkhood", was coined in Germany as part of this resistance to French hegemony. Fichte expressed the unity of language and nation in his thirteenth address "To the German Nation" in 1806: The first and natural boundaries of states are beyond doubt their internal boundaries; those who speak the same language are joined to each other by a multitude of invisible bonds by nature herself, long before any human art begins. Only when each people, left to itself and forms itself in accordance with its own peculiar quality, only when in every people each individual develops himself in accordance with that common quality, as well as in accordance with his own peculiar quality-then, only, does the manifestation of divinity appear in its true mirror as it ought to be. In the Balkans, Romantic views of a connection with classical Greece, which inspired Philhellenism infused the Greek War of Independence, in which the Romantic poet Lord Byron died of high fever. Rossini's opera William Tell marked the onset of the Romantic Opera, using the central national myth unifying Switzerland.
Verdi's opera choruses of an oppressed people inspired two generations of patriots in Italy with "Va pensiero". Under the influence of romantic nat
National flag
A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a country. The national flag is flown by the government of a country, but can also be flown by citizens of the country. A national flag is designed with specific meanings for its symbols; the colours of the national flag may be worn by the people of a nation to show their patriotism, or related paraphernalia that show the symbols or colours of the flag may be used for those purposes. The design of a national flag may be altered after the occurrence of important historical events; the burning or destruction of a national flag is a symbolic act. Flags originate as military standards, used as field signs; the practice of flying flags indicating the country of origin outside of the context of warfare became common with the maritime flag, introduced during the age of sail, in the early 17th century. The origins of the Union Jack flag date back to 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones, thereby uniting the crowns of England and Ireland in a personal union.
On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England, the flag of Scotland, would be joined together, forming the flag of Great Britain and first Union Flag. With the emergence of nationalist sentiment from the late 18th century national flags began to be displayed in civilian contexts as well. Notable early examples include the US flag, first adopted as a naval ensign in 1777 but began to be displayed as a generic symbol of the United States after the American Revolution, the French Tricolore, which became a symbol of the Republic in the 1790s. Most countries of Europe adopted a national flag in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries based on older war flags; the specifications of the flag of Denmark were codified based on a 14th-century design. The flag of Switzerland was introduced in 1889 based on medieval war flags; the Netherlands introduced two national flags in 1813. The Ottoman flag was adopted in 1844.
Other non-European powers followed the trend in the late 19th century, the flag of Japan being introduced in 1870, that of Qing China in 1890. In the 19th century, most countries of South America introduced a flag as they became independent The national flag is but not always, mentioned or described in a country's constitution, but its detailed description may be delegated to a flag law passed by the legislative, or secondary legislation or in monarchies a decree. Thus, the national flag is mentioned in the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949 "the federal flag is black-red-gold", but its proportions were regulated in a document passed by the government in the following year; the Flag of the United States is not defined in the constitution but rather in a separate Flag Resolution passed in 1777. Minor design changes of national flags are passed on a legislative or executive level, while substantial changes have constitutional character; the design of the flag of Serbia omitting the communist star of the flag of Yugoslavia was a decision made in the 1992 Serbian constitutional referendum, but the adoption of a coat of arms within the flag was based on a government "recommendation" in 2003, adopted legislatively in 2009 and again subject to a minor design change in 2010.
The Flag of the United States underwent numerous changes because the number of stars represents the number of states, proactively defined in a Flag Act of 1818 to the effect that "on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag". A change in national flag is due to a change of regime following a civil war or revolution. In such cases, the military origins of the national flag and its connection to political ideology remains visible. In such cases national flags acquire the status of a political symbol; the flag of Germany, for instance, was a tricolour of black-white-red under the German Empire, inherited from the North German Confederation. The Weimar Republic that followed adopted a black-red-gold tricolour. Nazi Germany went back to black-white-red in 1933, black-red-gold was reinstituted by the two successor states, West Germany and East Germany following World War II; the flag of Libya introduced with the creation of the Kingdom of Libya in 1951 was abandoned in 1969 with the coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi.
It was used again by National Transitional Council and by anti-Gaddafi forces during the Libyan Civil War in 2011 and adopted by the Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration. There are three distinct types of national flag for use on land, three for use at sea, though many countries use identical designs for several of these types of flag. On land, there is a distinction between civil flags, state flags, war or military flags. Civil flags may be flown by anyone regardless of whether they are linked to government, whereas state flags are those used by government agencies. War flags are used by military organizations such as Armies, Marine Corp
National language
A national language is a language that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with people and the territory they occupy. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the territory of a country may be referred to informally or designated in legislation as national languages of the country. National or national languages are mentioned in over 150 world constitutions. C. M. B. Brann, with particular reference to India, suggests that there are "four quite distinctive meanings" for national language in a polity: "Territorial language" of a particular people "Regional language" "Language-in-common or community language" used throughout a country "Central language" used by government and having a symbolic value; the last is given the title of official language. Standard languages, such as Standard German, Standard French, Standard Spanish, may serve as national and international languages. "National language" and "official language" are best understood as two concepts or legal categories with ranges of meaning that may coincide, or may be intentionally separate.
Stateless nations are not in the position to legislate an official language, but their languages may be sufficiently distinct and well-preserved to be national languages. Some languages may be recognized popularly as "national languages," while others may enjoy official recognition in use or promotion. In many African countries, some or all indigenous African languages are used, promoted, or expressly allowed to be promoted as semi-official languages whether by long-term legislation or short-term, case-by-case executive measures. To be official and written languages may enjoy government or federalised use, major tax-funded promotion or at least full tolerance as to their teaching and employers' recognition in public education, standing on equal footing with the official language. Further, they may enjoy recognition as a language used in compulsory schooling and treasury money may be spent to teach or encourage adults in learning a language, a minority language in a particular area to restore its understanding and spread its moral stories, poems, phrases and other literary heritage which will promote social cohesion or will promote nationalist differentiation where another, non-indigenous language is deprecated.
Albanian is a national language in Albania and Kosovo and a regional national language for parts of Macedonia, southern Montenegro and Serbia. Arabic is the national language in Algeria. Berber is an official language. French has no official status but is used in education and the media. Andorra's national language is Catalan. Armenia's national language is a separate branch in the linguistic family of Indo-European languages, Armenian. Armenian is spoken in Armenia as well as in its diaspora; the Armenian spoken in Armenia is known as Eastern Armenian, this dialect is spoken as well, in the Armenian communities of Russia and Iran. While on the other hand, other Armenian communities such as the Armenian communities of Lebanon, Jerusalem etc. speak the Western Armenian dialect. |° Australia has no official language, but is monolingual with English being the de facto national language. A considerable proportion of first and second generation migrants are bilingual. According to Ethnologue, 81% of people spoke English at home, including L2 speakers.
Other languages spoken at home included Chinese 2.9%, Italian 1.2%, Arabic 1.1%, Greek 1%, Vietnamese 0.9% and Spanish 0.4%. There were 400 languages spoken by Indigenous Australians prior to the arrival of Europeans. Only about 70 of these languages have survived and all but 30 of these are now endangered. Azerbaijani language is the national language in Azerbaijan. Bengali is the sole official language of Bangladesh. Bosnia and Herzegovina's de facto sole national language is Serbo-Croatian, it is defined under the three names Bosnian and Serbian, corresponding to the country's constituent ethnic groups. The Latin and Cyrillic alphabets both have official status. Bulgarian is the national language in Bulgaria. Canada's official languages since the Official Languages Act of 1969 are French. Depending on one's views of what constitutes a "nation", these two languages may be considered two equal national languages of the nation of Canada, or the national languages of two nations within one state, English Canada and French Canada.
Quebec nationalists consider Quebec French the language of the Quebec nation. Two of Canada's northern territories legislate a variety of Indigenous languages. Nunavut holds Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun as official languages, Northwest Territories has nine official languages aside from English and French: Cree, Dënesųłiné, Gwich’in, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun and South Slavey and Tłı̨chǫ; as these official languages are legislated at a territorial level, they can be construed as national languages. Besides these there many Indigenous languages of Canada which are the national languages of one or more of Canada's First Nations groups, Inuit and Métis (mixed First Nations-Euro
Jewish Territorialist Organization
The Jewish Territorialist Organisation, known as the ITO, was a Jewish political movement which first arose in 1903 in response to the British Uganda Offer, but, institutionalized in 1905. Its main goal was to find an alternative territory to that of the Land of Israel, preferred by the Zionist movement, for the creation of a Jewish homeland; the organization embraced what became known as Jewish Territorialism known as Jewish Statism. The ITO was dissolved in 1925; the first instance of what might be termed Territorialism, though the term did not yet exist, much predated Zionism. In 1825 the playwright and journalist, Mordecai Manuel Noah – the first Jew born in the United States to reach national prominence – tried to found a Jewish "refuge" at Grand Island in the Niagara River, to be called "Ararat," after Mount Ararat, the Biblical resting place of Noah's Ark, he purchased land on Grand Island - on the frontier of white settlement - for $4.38 per acre, in order to build a refuge for Jews of all nations.
He had brought with him a cornerstone which read "Ararat, a City of Refuge for the Jews, founded by Mordecai M. Noah in the Month of Tishri, 5586 and in the Fiftieth Year of American Independence." However, the scheme failed to attract Noah's fellow Jews. It ended with the ceremonial laying of that cornerstone; the Jewish Colonization Association, created in 1891 by the Baron Maurice de Hirsch, was aimed at facilitating mass emigration of Jews from the Russian Empire and other Eastern European countries, by settling them in agricultural colonies on lands purchased by the committee in North and South America. Before 1905 some Zionist leaders took proposals for Jewish homelands in places other than the Land of Israel. Theodor Herzl hoped for a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel but recognized that global events demanded an immediate solution to the Jewish problem, in Russia at least if that solution required Jewish refugees to settle outside of Eretz Israel. Theodor Herzl's Der Judenstaat argued for a Jewish state in either Palestine, "our ever-memorable historic home", or Argentina, "one of the most fertile countries in the world".
Many of the socialist Zionist groups were more territorialist than Zionist, such as Nachman Syrkin's Zionist Socialist Workers Party. As early as 1902, Herzl’s negotiations with the Ottoman Empire for a Jewish homeland in Palestine had proven so futile and the dream of Zion so distant that he decided to approach the British about the creation of a Jewish colony in Africa, and in April 1903 his efforts in London seemed to bear fruit. In response to the horrors of Kishinev, England's Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain proposed to Herzl the creation a semiautonomous region on the Uasin Gishu plateau in British East Africa for Jewish settlement; when Herzl revealed Chamberlain’s offer to the Sixth Zionist Congress in August 1903, Israel Zangwill spoke in favor of the proposal. In his speech to the Congress Zangwill made clear that, though he did not see East Africa as the ultimate consummation of the Zionist cause, he did believe that it proved a useful, temporary solution to the Jewish problem in Russia.
In 1903 British cabinet ministers suggested the British Uganda Program, land for a Jewish state in "Uganda". Herzl rejected the idea, preferring Palestine, but after the April 1903 Kishinev pogrom Herzl introduced a controversial proposal to the Sixth Zionist Congress to investigate the offer as a temporary measure for Russian Jews in danger. Notwithstanding its emergency and temporary nature, the proposal still proved divisive, widespread opposition to the plan was demonstrated by a walkout led by the Russian Jewish delegation to the Congress. Few historians believe that such a settlement scheme could have attracted immigrants, Jewish financial support, or international political support. Since there was strong support on the part of some members of the Zionist leadership, peace was kept in the movement by the time-honored parliamentary maneuver of voting to establish a committee for the investigation of the possibility, not dismissed until the 7th Zionist Congress in 1905; the Jewish Territorialist Organization was founded by British Jewish author and activist Israel Zangwill and British Jewish journalist Lucien Wolf in 1903 and institutionalized in 1905.
The establishment was a response to Herzl's rejection of Uganda proposal, as the ITO led by Zangwillsplit off from the Zionist movement. It attempted to locate territory suitable for Jewish settlement in various parts of America, on the African and Australian continents, yet with little success. Zangwill's interest in territorialism began in 1903 in response to the Kishinev Pogrom. In April of that year in Kishinev, Bessarabia, a Western province of the Russian Empire, a local newspaper accused the region’s Jews of killing a Christian child as part of their Passover rituals; this inflammatory use of the ancient "blood libel" sparked a three-day pogrom which resulted in the deaths of over forty Jews, as well as the destruction and looting of hundreds of Jewish homes and businesses. The specter of Kishinev work. Indeed, several years after the event, Zangwill would make the protagonist of his most important play, "The Melting Pot", a survivor of the pogrom who escapes to America after witnessing the murder of his family.
The events of Kishinev convinced Zangwill of the immediate need to find a place of Jewish refuge be it in Palestine or some other site. In commenting on the pogroms in a greeting
